System for controlling medical devices

ABSTRACT

Controlling a multi-device module includes a physiological sensor configured to sense physiological characteristics of a subject and generate a signal indicative of an instantaneous physiological state. A first device is configured to generate a first signal indicative of an operating state of the first device. A second device is configured to generate a second signal indicative of an operating state of the second device. A remote-control device includes a repository for storing computer executable files aggregated from a plurality of changing private networks. The remote-control device includes an electronic record (ER) client to make a wireless connection with each of the private networks and to query ER database associated with the private networks for electronic records residing within the private networks.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 13/756,445 filed on Jan. 31, 2013, which claims priority toU.S. provisional application No. 61/594,224, filed on Feb. 2, 2012, thecomplete disclosures of which, in their entireties, are herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

The embodiments herein generally relate to medical devices, and moreparticularly, to systems for controlling medical devices.

Description of the Related Art

Hospitals, caretakers, nursing centers or homes, medical offices,medical centers, or other sources of medical care and entities generallykeep medical and demographic or other such records of their patients.These records may include a variety of information such as demographicinformation of their patients, medical history, diagnostic and pathologyreports of their patients, medical reports or prescriptions, or othersuch information. This information can be used for a variety of purposesby these sources of medical care. A few examples of them are, withoutlimitations, tracking of the patients and their records, billing,historical assessments, integrating with medical devices, remote care,future care taking, telemedicine, proper ongoing medical or healthassessment or treatment, or any other purpose.

One way to collate and store the medical data is with the use of anelectronic health record data bank (EHRDB). These records from variousentities can be electronically maintained such as by the electronichealth record data bank (EHRDB) in a central system accessible by theentities. The EHRDB may store medical data of the entities and devicesand retrieve the data of the respective entities as and when requestedby them.

SUMMARY

An embodiment herein provides a system for controlling multiple devices,the system comprising a physiological sensor associated with a body of asubject and configured to sense one or more physiologicalcharacteristics of the subject and generate a digital physiologicalsignal indicative of an instantaneous physiological state of thesubject; a first device configured for bi-directional wirelesscommunication positioned proximate to the subject and comprising a firstmemory circuit and a first processor, wherein the first device isconfigured to generate a first signal indicative of an operating stateof the first device, and wherein the operating state comprising one of aperforming state and a non-performing state of the first device; asecond device configured for bi-directional wireless communicationpositioned proximate to the subject and comprising a second memorycircuit and a second processor, wherein the second device is configuredto generate a second signal indicative of an operating state of thesecond device, wherein the operating state comprising one of aperforming state and a non-performing state of the second device, andwherein the first device and the second device are configured to performone of a therapeutic, diagnostic, and a medication delivery task on thesubject in accordance with computer-enabled instructions; a computerwith telemetry circuitry for communicating with the physiologicalsensor, the first device, and the second device; and a remote-controldevice positioned apart from the physiological sensor, the first device,and the second device.

The remote-control device comprises a digital records repositorycomprising a memory circuit and a processing unit for storingdynamically updating computer executable files aggregated from aplurality of changing private networks wherein the computer executablefiles contain dynamically updating digitally recorded informationindicative of a set of changing subject attributes and respectivechanging reference values associated with the subject; an electronicrecord (ER) client configured to make a wireless connection with each ofthe private networks and configured to query an ER database associatedwith each of the private networks for electronic records residing withinthe private networks; a server machine configured for communicating withthe physiological sensor, the first device, and the second device eitherdirectly or through the computer, wherein the server machine isconfigured for receiving the digital physiological signal indicative ofthe instantaneous physiological state of the subject and sendingprogrammable operational parameters to the first device and the seconddevice in response to a request for service from the computer and basedon the instantaneous physiological state such that the operatingparameters decides operating characteristics of the first device andoperating characteristics of the second device and the operatingcharacteristics of the first device and the operating characteristics ofthe second device are interdependent through a priority andinterdependence relationship, wherein at least one of the physiologicalsensor, the first device, the second device, and the computer transformsthe received operating parameters into a digital data structure readableby a scanner; and an identity validation device to verify an identity ofthe first device and the second device and associate a subjectidentifier uniquely representing the subject with the first device andthe second device based on information contained within thephysiological signal such that the operating parameters are calculatedbased on one or more of the reference values associated with the subjecthaving the unique subject identifier as identified based on thephysiological signal.

The physiological sensor may be implanted within the body of the subjectsubcutaneously. The physiological sensor may be associated with thesubject as an external device. The physiological sensor may beconfigured for the subject such that the digital physiological signalcontains the subject identifier along with an information indicative ofthe instantaneous physiological state of the subject. The remote-controldevice may be configured to associate the subject identifier with thecomputer executable files stored in the digital records repository toretrieve the reference values associated with the subject and generatean output indicative of the operational parameters of the first deviceand the second device based on the physiological signal and theretrieved reference values associated with the subject. The operationalparameters may comprise any of changing an operating state of the firstdevice only for a first period of time; changing an operating state ofthe second device only for a second period of time; changing anoperating state of both the first device and the second device for athird period of time; and connecting a third device different from thefirst device and the second device by associating an operating statewith the third device in association with the subject for a fourthperiod of time, wherein each of the first device, the second device, andthe third device are uniquely identified by device identifiers such thatthe digital records repository stores the digital identifiers in adevice manager in association with the subject identifier.

Any of the server machine and the computer may further comprise a switchmatrix configured to cause switching of the operating state of the oneor more of the first device, second device, and the third device uponreceipt of the operational parameters from the remote-control device inaccordance with the priority and interdependence relationships. Theremote-control device may further comprise a time detection circuitconfigured to monitor the first period of time, second period of time,third period of time, and the fourth period of time. The system mayfurther comprise a device state detection circuit coupled to the timedetection circuit and configured to identify an operating state of thefirst device, second device, and the third device after completion ofthe first period of time, the second period of time, the third period oftime, and the fourth period of time. The system may further comprise afault detection circuit configured to generate a signal indicative of afault when the device state detection circuit does not detect a changein operating states of either of the first device, second device, or thethird device in accordance with the operational parameters transmittedby the remote-control device. The first device may comprise a ventilatorand the second device may comprise an X-ray machine such that theremote-control device causes the ventilator to perform a first actionupon receipt and the X-ray machine to perform a second action uponreceipt of the operational parameters.

The remote-control device may comprise an electronic medical record(EMR) system configured to house a plurality of digital recordsassociated with a plurality of subjects including the subject in theform of a plurality of digital files including the computer executablefiles associated with the subject, wherein the EMR system comprising thedigital records repository; the electronic record (ER) client; a mobilepoint of care system to capture subject-associated digital data at apoint of care wherein the point of care system is communicativelyconnected with the electronic record (ER) client so as to transmit theelectronic records captured by the mobile point of care system from theprivate networks to the server machine; a data interface, incommunication with the mobile point of care system, to facilitatetransmission of the electronic records to the server machine; and aweb-based interactive graphical user interface for allowing the subjectto enter the digital records manually from a distant location. Thedigital data structure may comprise a QR (quick response) code.

Another embodiment provides a multi-device system comprising a firstmedical device configured for bi-directional wireless communicationpositioned proximate to a subject and comprising a first memory circuitand a first processor, wherein the first medical device is configured togenerate a first signal indicative of an operating state of the firstmedical device, and wherein the operating state comprising one of aperforming state and a non-performing state of the first medical device;and a second medical device configured for bi-directional wirelesscommunication positioned proximate to the subject and comprising asecond memory circuit and a second processor, wherein the second medicaldevice is configured to generate a second signal indicative of anoperating state of the second medical device, and wherein the operatingstate comprising one of a performing state and a non-performing state ofthe second medical device.

Each of the first medical device and the second medical device comprisean integrated gateway device configured to have a multiple interfaceunit comprising data interface units configured to send medicaloperation measurements in conformity with one or more operationalparameters received via any of a wired and wireless communicationnetwork; a medical device housing to contain device accessories andcircuitry; one or more of a therapeutic delivery device, a medicationdelivery device, and a diagnosis device physically contained within themedical device housing and configured to perform one of a therapeutic,diagnostic, and a medication delivery task; an identification module tocontain digitally stored information indicative of device identifier andconfigured to be transmitted to other devices upon request for deviceidentification; and a computer with telemetry circuitry forcommunicating with a physiological sensor, the first device, and thesecond device, wherein the computer is configured to receive aphysiological signal from the associated physiological sensor configuredfor a subject; transmit a subject identifier, a first medical deviceidentifier associated with the first medical device, and a secondmedical device identifier associated with the second medical devicealong with a service request to a remote-control device positioned apartfrom the physiological sensor, and wherein the remote-control device isconfigured to fulfill the service request based on information containedin a plurality of dynamically updating computer executable files from aplurality of digital data sources and stored in an EMR system configuredwithin the remote-control device; and receive the one or moreoperational parameters from the remote-control device in response to aservice request from the computer and based on an instantaneousphysiological state as identified from the physiological signal suchthat the one or more operating parameters decides operatingcharacteristics of the first medical device and operatingcharacteristics of the second medical device, wherein the operatingcharacteristics of the first medical device and the operatingcharacteristics of the second medical device are interdependent througha priority and interdependence relationship.

The first medical device may comprise a medical imaging machine forimaging of a target including a tissue or a bone structure within a bodyof a subject, the medical imaging machine comprising a rotatable driveshaft; an imaging device supported on the rotatable drive shaft, theimaging device adapted to transmit energy toward the target; a positionadjustment mechanism coupling with the rotatable shaft to allowadjustment of the rotatable drive shaft in order to focus transmissionof the energy at the target; the integrated gateway device; and theidentification module. The energy may comprise X-rays and the imagingmachine may comprise an X-Ray machine.

The second medical device may comprise a life support system comprisingan oxygen source that includes a tank of pressurized gas; one or morecontrol valves disposed over a channel connecting the oxygen source andthe subject to allow the oxygen to flow from the tank to a laryngealmask in a first state and to allow gas expelled from the subject to flowfrom the laryngeal mask to the atmosphere in a second state whilepreventing the oxygen from flowing from the oxygen source in a secondstate; the laryngeal mask disposed downstream from the inspirationcontrol valve, the laryngeal mask configured to form an air seal withthe subject's respiratory tract such that the oxygen flows from theoxygen source to the lungs of the subject; a timer for synchronizingactuation of the one or more control valves based on the operationalparameters received from the remote-control device containing the EMRsystem; the integrated gateway device; and the identification module.The life support system may comprise a ventilator. Each of the firstmedical device and the second medical device may comprise a respective(Global Positioning System) GPS-based device such that the GPS-baseddevice is configured to detect geo-locations of the respective firstmedical device and the second medical device, wherein the remote-controldevice receives the detected geo-locations of the first medical deviceand the second medical device, and the remote-control deviceautomatically correlates the subject identifier for the subjectassociated with the first medical device and the second medical deviceand initiates functioning in context of the subject as and when the EMRsystem is proximate to the subject associated with the first medicaldevice and the second medical device. The computer may be configured totransform the operating parameters received from the remote-controldevice into a digital data structure, the system further comprising ascanner communicatively coupled to the computer such that the digitaldata structure is readable by the scanner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features of the disclosed embodiments may become apparent from thefollowing detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings showing illustrative embodiments herein, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates generally, but not by the way of limitation, amongother things, an example of an operating environment in which anembodiment may operate;

FIG. 2 illustrates generally, but not by the way of limitation, amongother things, an ER client such as described in FIG. 1, in accordancewith an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram that illustrates generally, but not by theway of limitation, an exemplary cloud computing architecture, inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 illustrates generally, but not by the way of limitation, aplurality of medical devices connected with an EMR system, in accordancewith an embodiment;

FIG. 5 illustrates, generally but not by the way of limitation, a systemfor facilitating coordination and control among a plurality of medicaldevices, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 6 illustrates, generally but not by the way of limitation, anexample of a first medical device and a second medical devicecoordinating in a network before switching their operating states, in anembodiment;

FIG. 7 illustrates, generally but not by the way of limitation, anexample of the first medical device and the second medical devicecoordinating in the network after switching their operating states, inaccordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary lookup table depicting interdependenceamong a plurality of medical devices, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 9 illustrates a method for facilitating coordinated functioning ofa plurality of medical devices, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary remote-control device in associationwith a multi-device module, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary multi-device module, in accordance withan embodiment;

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary centralized system linked with medicaldevices, in accordance with an embodiment; and

FIG. 13 illustrates generally, but not by the way of limitation, acomputer system that may be used in accordance with the embodimentsherein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments herein and the various features and advantageous detailsthereof are explained more fully with reference to the non-limitingembodiments that are illustrated in the accompanying drawings anddetailed in the following description. Descriptions of well-knowncomponents and are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure theembodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely tofacilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein maybe practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practicethe embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not beconstrued as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and these are shown byway of illustrating specific embodiments herein that may be practiced.These embodiments, which are also referred to herein as “examples,” aredescribed in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art topractice the embodiments herein, and it is to be understood that theembodiments may be combined, or that other embodiments may be utilizedand that structural, logical, and electrical changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the embodiments herein.

In this document, the terms “a” or “an” are used, as is common in patentdocuments, to include one or more than one. In this document, the term“or” is used to refer to a “nonexclusive or” unless otherwise indicated.

In an exemplary embodiment, the various modules described herein andillustrated in the figures are embodied as hardware-enabled modules andmay be configured as a plurality of overlapping or independentelectronic circuits, devices, and discrete elements packaged onto acircuit board to provide data and signal processing functionality withina computer. An example might be a comparator, inverter, or flip-flop,which could include a plurality of transistors and other supportingdevices and circuit elements. The modules that are configured withelectronic circuits process computer logic instructions capable ofproviding digital and/or analog signals for performing various functionsas described herein. The various functions can further be embodied andphysically saved as any of data structures, data paths, data objects,data object models, object files, database components. For example, thedata objects could be configured as a digital packet of structured data.The data structures could be configured as any of an array, tuple, map,union., variant, set, graph, tree, node, and an object, which may bestored and retrieved by computer memory and may be managed byprocessors, compilers, and other computer hardware components. The datapaths can be configured as part of a computer CPU that performsoperations and calculations as instructed by the computer logicinstructions. The data paths could include digital. electronic circuits,multipliers, registers, and buses capable of performing data processingoperations and arithmetic; operations (e.g., Add, Subtract, etc.), bitse logical operations (AND, OR, XOR, etc.), bit shift operationsarithmetic, logical, rotate, etc.), complex operations (e.g., usingsingle clock calculations, sequential calculations, iterativecalculations, etc.). The data objects may be configured as physicallocations in computer memory and can be a. variable, a data structure,or a function. In the embodiments configured as relational databases(e.g., such Oracle® relational databases), the data objects can beconfigured as a table or column. Other configurations includespecialized objects, distributed objects, object oriented programmingobjects, and semantic web objects, for example. The data object modelscan be configured as an application. programming interface for creatingHyperText Markup Language (HTML) and Extensible Markup Language (XML)electronic documents. The models can be further configured as any of atree, graph, container, list, map, queue, set, stack, and variationsthereof. The data object files are created. by compilers and assemblersand contain generated binary code and data for a source file. Thedatabase components can include any of tables, indexes, views, storedprocedures, and triggers.

A method or a system for dynamically updating real-time digital dataassociated with one or more entities of an electronic medical record(EMR) system is provided herein. The system and method comprises an ERclient to remotely collect the real-time digital data associated withthe one or more entities over a communication network.

The real-time digital data may include, for example data related topatient, clinician, labs and imaging center, clinical research center,healthcare financing institute, pharmacy, nursing, social services,clinical or medical devices and the like. The ER client analyses thecollected digital data to update one or more repositories of the EMRsystem associated with the one or more entities in real-time. The EMRsystem may also run automated monitoring software to alert the one ormore entities about the updated digital records and associated digitaldata.

FIG. 1 illustrates generally, but not by the way of limitation, amongother things, an exemplary operating environment 100 in which variousembodiments may operate. The environment 100 provides a high-level viewof one or more private networks 102 serving as digital data sources forthe Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system 108 such that the digitaldata may be accessed by the EMR system 108 in real time over acommunications network 104. These private networks 102 may be associatedwith a plurality of entities such that the entities can be varioussubjects (patients), healthcare providers, care takers, and the like.Each private network 102 is associated with a particular subject suchthat the digital data available in a particular private network 102 isaccessible to only the subject and his care takers or care providers orany other entity allowed by the subject or his care taker or his careprovider to access the private network 102. In accordance with thedigital data associated with the subject, the EMR system 108 may alsoreserve rights such that the digital data accessed from the privatenetwork 102 of the subject is accessible according to privacy andownership rights of the digital data by the subject. The privatenetworks may be associated with local private digital databases whereinthe digital data associated with the subjects may be stored. The privatenetworks may also refer to manual entries of the digital data at leastin part by the subjects or associated entities. The private networks mayalso refer to automated or manual pulling of the digital data fromassociated medical devices of the subjects.

In an embodiment, the EMR system 108 may be coupled to social networkssuch as through the social network platform 106 which may also serve asa source of the digital data associated with the subjects. In anembodiment, the social networking platform 106 may generate a variety ofdata coming from various aggregators and user profiles comprising of aplurality of digital formats wherein each digital format may beassociated with a specific structure different from other digitalformats. The data originating from the social networking platform 106may require complex mapping of fields and elements for transformation toa unified structure as per requirements. The social networking platform106 may host information related to the subjects. For example, thesocial networking platform 106 may host social profiles of the subjectsand/or related entities such as caretakers where they may store andupdate their personal, professional or other such details or maycommunicate in a social network with friends, relatives, family members,or other such networking contacts about healthcare information orpatient or medical device generated information, in an example. Thesocial networking platform 106 may be defined as a network with anarbitrary large number of networked computers accessing the socialnetwork 106 through registered social profiles of such as clinical dataproviders or subjects. The social networking platform 106 may facilitateposting and sharing online profiles, data, clinical reviews, patientgenerated data, device generated data, IoT data, sensors data etc.,simultaneously viewable by each of the arbitrary large number ofcomputers including such as a clinical provider computer, patientcomputer, and the like.

The communication network 104 can provide a communicativeinterconnection of various nodes such as the private networks 102,social network platform 106, EMR system 108, or any other node in thecommunication network 104. The private networks 102 and the socialnetwork platform 106 are together referred to as digital data sources124 associated with a subject. The digital data sources 124 may beconnected with their respective computing devices. The communicationnetwork 104 may include one or more wireless communications network orone or more wire line communications network.

The wireless communications network may include for example, but notlimited to, a digital cellular network, such as Global System for MobileTelecommunications (GSM) network, Personal Communication System (PCS)network, or any other wireless communications network. The wire linecommunications network may include for example, but not limited to, aPublic Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), proprietary local and longdistance communications network, or any other wire line communicationsnetwork. In addition, the communication network 104 may include forexample, digital data networks, such as one or more local area networks(LANS), one or more wide area networks (WANS), or both LANS and WANS toallow interaction among the digital data sources and the EMR system. Oneor more networks may be included in the communication network 104 andmay include both public networks such as the Internet, and privatenetworks and may utilize any networking technology and protocol, such asEthernet, Token Ring, Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol(TCP/IP), or the like to allow interaction among various nodes such asthe digital data sources, and the EMR system 108, or any other node inthe network 104.

The digital data sources 124 described herein may be connected with, forexample, any type of electronic data processing system or communicationdevice connected to the communications network 104. Examples of such anelectronic data processing system include personal computer systems,such as desktop or laptop computers, workstation computer systems,server computer systems, networks of computer systems, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), wireless communications devices, portable devices, orany other electronic data processing system. Likewise, the digital datasources 124 can connect to the communication network 104 through a wiredor wireless connection, or a combination thereof, directly orindirectly. An “entity” is understood to mean an individual or a groupof individual or an organization, or a platform such as for whom digitaldata is managed or who manages the digital data or who facilitatemanaging of the digital data in the EMR system 108. The entities mayinclude for example, but not limited to a subject/patient, clinician ordoctor, a lab and research organization, a biller, a hospital, aninsurance corporation, an emergency resource such as ambulance, amarketer, an advertiser, an enterprise, a sponsor, an officeprofessional, a social service organization, or any other individual ora group of individuals or an organization or a platform. Each subjectcan be associated with a unique subject identifier, usually comprisingof a numeric or alphanumeric sequence that is unidentifiable outside theEMR system 108. In examples, the subject identifier may also be referredto as a medical record number or master patient index (MPI). The uniquesubject identifier can link and update all digital data associated withthe subject. The detailed description about association of the digitaldata with the subject will be described in later paragraphs of thedocument.

In some embodiments, the social network platform 106, as shown in FIG.1, may interact with the EMR system 108 to implement a social cloud. Thesocial network platform 106 can include one or more social networkservers 110 and database servers 112 to provide real-time data updatesto the EMR system 108. The social network servers 110 in communicationwith the database servers 112 may allow the subject to access and updateor share the digital data either manual inputs or through automated datascraping and extraction techniques. The social network servers 110 mayconstantly interact with the EMR system 108 to provide real-time dataupdates associated with the subject (or associated entities such as careproviders or healthcare providers). Likewise, the social network servers110 may also provide real-time updates associated with one or moresocial services to the EMR system 108.

The EMR system 108, described herein, may be centralized ordecentralized. In an embodiment, the EMR system 108 may be blockchainconfigured to allow a federated distributed access for the entities. TheEMR system 108 may store the digital data related to the subjects in adigital records repository 114. The EMR system 108 may communicate withdifferent servers and repositories such as the social network servers110 and the database servers 112, and the private networks 102. Thedigital records repository 114 can store the plurality of electronichealthcare records (or the digital data referred interchangeably)including data or information related to the entities in the form ofcomputer executable files associated with the subject containing thedigital data. The digital data can be organized in such a way thatfacilitates local or remote information access and manipulation in thecommunication network 104 via a processing component 120. In someembodiments, the processing component 120 may be, but not limited to, amicroprocessor, a microcontroller, or equivalent. The processingcomponent 120 may be capable of executing instructions to process thedigital data over the communications network 104. In some embodiments,the digital data corresponding to an individual subject may have beenderived from medical testing or treatment or diagnostics reports. Insome embodiments, the digital data may have been derived from othersources such as a research organization trial, insurance services,medical devices, or any other source. The digital records repository 114may include a memory circuit and a processing unit for storingdynamically updating computer executable files aggregated from aplurality of changing private networks 102 such that the computerexecutable files contain dynamically updating digitally recordedinformation indicative of a set of changing subject attributes andrespective changing reference values associated with the subject.

The digital records repository 114 may also include data related todifferent electronic or social sources such as doctor's visits, labtests, hospital stays, clinical trials, patient problems, patientshealth information, patient habits, patient medical history, patientappointments, patient medical insurance, patient medical bills status,or any other information. The EMR system 108 may include or couple toother electronic or social data sources such as an HIE repository 116and the VMR repository 118 to dynamically update information related toor from the other electronic sources. The HIE repository 116 may includeelectronic healthcare information related to a region, community, orhospital system. In examples, the HIE repository 116 may provideadditional storage, retrieval, and manipulation of digital informationsuch that the EMR system 108 can dynamically manage and update thedigital data related to the entities. The HIE repository 116 mayfacilitate mobilization of digital information electronically acrossvarious repositories connected to the EMR system 108, acrossorganizations within a region, community or a hospital. The HIErepository 116 may store information or medical records associated withthe entities from disparate regions, or communities and allow toelectronically move the information or the medical records amongdisparate health care information systems or repositories of the EMRsystem 108. The VMR repository 118 described herein may store electronicinformation related to the entities. The VMR repository 118 may becoupled to the EMR system 108 to store virtual medical records that mayinclude a simplified, standardized electronic data designed to supportinterfacing to the EMR system 108 or clinical decision support systems.The present system can allow the entities to access and share or updatethe digital data in different sources or repositories of the EMR system108.

The EMR system 108 may include or be coupled to an electronic record(ER) client 122 comprising a hardware device encapsulating softwaremodules and various special purpose circuitry. The ER client 122 can becapable of monitoring, collecting, analyzing, and updating the digitaldata associated with the digital data sources 124. The detaileddescription about the ER client 122 will be provided in conjunction withFIG. 2.

FIG. 2, with reference to FIG. 1, illustrates generally, but not by theway of limitation, among other things, the ER client 122 such asdescribed in FIG. 1, in accordance with various embodiments herein. TheER client 122 can be configured to monitor, collect, analyze, and updatethe digital data associated with the subject and collected from thedigital data sources 124. In an example, the ER client 122 can beconfigured to expose a SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) basedweb-service API (Application Program Interface) that allows the digitaldata sources 124 to push digital information in real-time directly intothe EMR system 108 such that the ER client 122 may analyze the digitaldata and transfer a request to the EMR system 108 to update the storeddigital information in the digital records repository 114 associatedwith the subject. The above specified protocol is only for exemplarypurposes and the present system may use any other protocol capable ofmanaging real-time flow of digital information from various sources overthe communication network 104. As used herein, the term “real-time” mayrefer to seconds, minutes, or hours, by the way of definition of theparticular application, EMR system 108, or enterprise being controlledand the like. For example, in a certain type of enterprise, the term“real time” may refer to propagating information from the sources withina few minutes or hours. In another enterprise application, the term“real time” may refer to propagating information from the sourcessubstantially immediately, i.e., within a few seconds.

The ER client 122 may be configured to make a wireless connection witheach of the private networks 102 and configured to query ER databasesassociated with each of the private networks 102 for electronic recordsresiding within the private networks 102 or other data sources 124.

The ER client 122 includes various software and hardware modules such asfor example, but not limited to, data monitoring module, data managementmodule, security module, and business rules module. The data monitoringmodule of the ER client 122 monitors the digital data to discover anydata updates related to the subject.

The digital data may include for example, but not limited to, long termcare and nursing information, labs and research information, doctor'svisits, medication administration records, physician orders, emergencyinformation resource information, hospital stays, clinical trials,patient problems, patients health information, patient habits, patientmedical history, patient appointments, patient medical insurance,patient medical bills status, medical devices associated with a subject,specifications and operating parameters of the subject, or any otherinformation pertaining to the subject. The digital information describedherein can be associated with the subject with the use of the ‘subjectidentifier’ uniquely defining the subject. This may be referred to as“patient association”. In accordance with some embodiments, severalautomated and non-automated devices, sensors, and the like devices orequipment can be used in a shared environment like a hospital, or aclinic or any other environment. These devices and sensors, and the likemay be used to monitor or record health parameters or information of thesubject. For example, these devices can monitor or record informationabout blood pressure and other conditions or status of the subject. Thismonitoring and recording of the subject can be performed at severaldistinct times. For example, a subject may arrive in a hospital in themorning and get his health information recorded or monitored at thattime while a second subject arrives in the evening when hishealth-related information is monitored or recorded. In someembodiments, the same devices may be used for monitoring or recordingpurposes of several subjects. The recorded or monitored information isstored in the EMR system 108 in association with the details of therespective subjects. This may allow the EMR system 108 to know whichdata elements or detail corresponds to which subject. Such patientassociation may allow the EMR system 108 to function in a proper andaccurate manner. The EMR system 108 can easily trace records forspecific patients through a “patient association” technique.

The ER client 122 is configured to include and use digital informationof the subject from the one or more digital data sources 124 to updatethe real-time digital data associated with the subject via the datamanagement module. Various entity applications 202 specific to eachsubject described herein may include for example, but not limited to,patient application, clinical application, lab application, adminapplication, health care application, financial organizationapplication, insurance application, research organization application,or any other entity application. The ER client 122 can be configured touse the data management module to update the real-time digital dataidentified by the data monitoring module. The ER client 122 may updatethe data and based on the information propagated from the datamonitoring module of the ER client 122. The ER client 122 may useidentification information 204 associated with the subject to update thecorresponding entity applications 202 and the digital records. Theidentification information 204 described herein, may include forexample, but not limited to, subject specific information such as name,age, gender, phone number, contact details, subject identifier, and thelike, entity meta data such as to quickly and precisely search fordesired data, entity identifier (ID) such as an entity uniqueidentifier, entity specific contextual data such as research notespertaining to the entity, or any other identification information. TheER client 122 may further use the identification information 204associated with the subject to identify corresponding electronic recordsto be updated in the digital records repository 114. This may include,for example, a mobile phone number, IP address of a computer and anyother reference associated with the subject.

The ER client 122 may send a request to the EMR system 108 to update thecorresponding digital data of a subject, in accordance with theidentified real-time data associated with the subject. Likewise, in someexamples, the EMR system 108 may allow the ER client 122 to interactwith the digital data sources 124 to monitor and update the digital datapropagated to or from the social cloud or private networks or socialnetworks. The ER client 122 identifies the real-time data and sends arequest to the EMR system 108 for dynamically updating the associateddigital records repository 114. The EMR system 108 may run automatedmonitoring software to alert the subject about the updated records andassociated data.

The security module and the business rules module may implement one ormore security technologies and pre-determined business rules to providesecure access and updates to or from the EMR system 108 such thatvarious subjects 1-6 can access and update their respective digitaldata, based on the roles and access levels, over the communicationnetwork 104, directly or indirectly via the ER client 122. In someembodiments, the ER client 122 is coupled to a data logger 206, as shownin FIG. 2. The data logger 206 is configured to retrieve data fromvarious digital data sources 124 integrated or coupled or includedto/within the EMR system 108, and log the data in the digital recordsrepository 114. The digital records repository 114 can be containedwithin the EMR system 108. The data logger 206 is coupled to avisualizer 208 that is configured to retrieve the digital data from thedata logger 106 or the EMR system 108 and visualize it such that ahealth care-specific task can be operated on it. In some embodiments,the visualizer 208 can generate visual reports that may or may not betabulator in nature. The visualizer 208 provides an output that issimplified for a physician to make sense thereof.

FIG. 3, with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, is a schematic diagram thatillustrates generally, but not by the way of limitation, an exemplarycloud computing architecture 300, in accordance with the variousexemplary embodiments herein. One or more subjects such as subjects 1-3as shown in FIG. 3 can access their respective digital data via an ERagent 304. The ER agent 304 described herein may be a software componentrunning on the electronic data processing system of the respectivesubjects 1-3 or associated entities such as a caretaker or careprovider. The ER agent 304 can be a web-based agent that may allowaccess to the respective digital data associated with the subjects 1-3and stored in the digital records repository 114. The web-based agentmay be accessed directly or indirectly. The direct access to theweb-based agent can be done by the subjects 1-3 via a respective UniformResource Location (URL) address for each subject 1-3. The web-basedagent can also be accessed indirectly by various subjects 1-3 via asocial service interface or any other third party interface. The socialservice described herein can be, but not limited to a service such asprovided by Facebook™, Orkut™, LinkedIn™, Twitter™, and the like. In anexample, the ER agent 304 may be a standalone application configured tobe installed on the electronic data processing systems of the subjects1-3 or associated entities. The ER agent 304 can be configured toprovide access to the various application modules of the ER system 108,based on roles and access levels. The ER agent 304 can becommunicatively connected with the ER client 122 for allowingcommunication between the digital data sources 124 associated with therespective subjects 1-3 and the EMR system 108.

In an example, the digital data associated with the subjects such as thesubjects 1-3 may be updated from the respective digital data sources 124via the ER agent 304 in real-time over cloud 308 facilitated by thecommunication network 104. The ER client 122 may monitor the real-timeinformation updates to or from the digital data sources 124 to identifycorresponding records in the digital records repository 114 to beupdated. The ER client 122 may transfer a request to update one or morecomputer executable files associated with the subjects 1-3 in thedigital records repository 114, in accordance with the propagatedreal-time information. Likewise, the ER client 122 may also monitor theupdates to or from a social service such as the social networkingplatform 106 providing access to the entities associated with thesubjects such as the subjects 1-3 to update the digital data over thecloud 308.

A method for dynamically updating the digital data associated with thesubjects 1-3 from the digital data sources 124 in the EMR system 108, inaccordance with various embodiments, can also be employed. The ER client122 of the EMR system 108 monitors real-time information updates fromthe digital data sources 124 via the ER agent 304. The ER client 122identifies one or more electronic records to be updated, in accordancewith the propagated real-time information. The ER client 122 transfers arequest to update the corresponding electronic records associated withthe subjects 1-3 to the EMR system 108.

The methods described herein may be deployed in part or in whole througha machine that executes software programs on a server, client, or othersuch computer and/or networking hardware on a processor. The processormay be part of a server, client, network infrastructure, mobilecomputing platform, stationary computing platform, or other computingplatform. The processor may be include a computational or processingdevice capable of executing program instructions, codes, binaryinstructions and the like. The processor may be or include a signalprocessor, digital processor, embedded processor, microprocessor or anyvariant such as a co-processor (math co-processor, graphic co-processor,communication co-processor and the like) and the like that may directlyor indirectly facilitate execution of program code or programinstructions stored thereon.

In accordance with some embodiments, the EMR system 108 can controlother devices (D1, D2, D3) operating such as in a medical environment asshown in FIG. 4 and discussed later.

In some embodiments, the EMR system 108 and the devices can beintegrated to provide the “device integration” functionality asdiscussed later. In some embodiments, the several devices such as D1,D2, and D3 can be integrated among themselves also while simultaneouslycoupled or integrated to the EMR system 108. In accordance with thedevice integration functionality, a device may be associated with apatient and the monitored or recorded data can be sent to the EMR system108. The data sent may, for example, be sent from a specific device suchas D1 or D2 and the like.

In accordance with some embodiments, a device such as D1 may be providedor used for a subject. In an example, if the subject is associated withthe particular device D1, and when the EMR system 108 is used proximateto the device D1, the EMR system 108 automatically begins functioning inthe context of the particular subject. In an embodiment, software canalso be used to automatically connect to the subject simply based on thedevice D1 that the subject is connected or associated with. In anembodiment, each of the first medical device and the second medicaldevice D1 and D2 may include respective (Global Positioning System)GPS-based devices such that the GPS-based devices are configured todetect geo-locations of the respective first medical device and thesecond medical device.

In some embodiments, the EMR system 108 may provide a functionality ofdevice (D1, D2, and D3) coordination. In accordance with thefunctionality of “device coordination”, based on certain kinds ofinformation received from a device such as blood pressure from a bloodpressure device, a gateway can send a command to the EMR system 108 orto other devices to do some specific task. For example, a ventilator maybe required to be turned off if an X-ray is taken during a surgicalprocedure. So, a message is required to be sent to the gateway and otherrelated devices to turn the ventilator off while the X-ray is taken andonce the X-ray has been taken, a command to switch on the ventilator isrequired to be given. The device coordination functionality allows theEMR system 108 and the devices (D1, D2, and D3) to perform these tasksin a proper and coordinated way.

In still some other embodiments, the EMR system 108 may provide afunctionality of device (D1, D2, and D3) control. In an embodiment, if adevice such as D1 is employed at a particular location within themedical environment, the EMR system 108 may show a button to indicatethe device D1, and its association with the patient. For example, if thedevice D1 is a BP cuff tied to a subject, the EMR system 108 mayindicate the location of the cuff and the association of the cuff withthe patient by providing a button on a screen or user interface of theEMR system 108 that is configured to be pressed. As soon as the buttonis pressed on the user interface, the EMR system 108 sends a command tothe cuff invoking it to measure the BP. A physiological sensor coupledto the patient or the cuff can send the recorded or monitored data tothe EMR system 108. Thus, the “device control” functionality may providethe EMR system 108 to control the devices D1, D2, and D3 coupled to theEMR system 108.

In some embodiments, software may be provided that can automaticallysend a command to press the button on the user interface. By pressingthe button, the device can automatically perform a desired task and sendthe monitored or recorded digital data to the EMR system 108.

In some embodiments, the device (D1, D2, D3), can be or include a phone,a tablet, a computer or any other device that contains sensors, anaccelerometer, GPS enabled devices, and the like. The variousfunctionalities of the medical devices D1, D2, D3 are further discussedbelow in detail.

It must be appreciated that various embodiments as discussed above inconjunction with FIGS. 1-3 may be combined with various embodimentsimplementing device integration, device coordination, and device controlfunctionalities as disclosed below in conjunction with FIGS. 4-11.

FIG. 4, with reference to FIGS. 1 through 3, illustrates a plurality ofmedical devices 402 (D1, D2, D3) connected with the EMR system 108through the network 104. The EMR system 108 stores digital data orelectronic medical records of a plurality of subjects electronically.The medical records may include one or more of demographic information,medical history, treatment plans, ongoing treatments, informationrelated to allergies, and lab reports of the plurality of subjects, andthe like. In accordance with some embodiments, the medical records ofthe plurality of subjects stored in the EMR system 108 can be obtainedsocially through social aware networks (social network platform) 106linked to the respective plurality of subjects or through other privatenetworks 102 as discussed earlier. The medical records may also bereferred to as social health records herein as they may be obtained fromvarious socially aware networks.

The EMR system 108 may be coupled to a server machine or simply a server404. The plurality of medical devices 402 may be coupled to the server404 either locally or remotely so as to control functioning andcoordination of the plurality of medical devices 402 based oninformation stored in the digital records repository 114 of the EMRsystem 108. The digitally stored information in the form of computerexecutable files may be associated with the plurality of subjects. Forexample, the EMR system 108 may collect data about the subjects and theassociated devices 402 from various socially aware networks for examplesocial networking websites or private networks and accordingly based onthe data stored in the EMR system 108 can control and coordinatefunctioning of the devices 402. The stored data may be updated by the ERclient 122 in real time. In an embodiment, the plurality of medicaldevices 402 may be integrated among themselves and also with the server404. In an embodiment, the functioning of the plurality of medicaldevices 402 may be controlled or coordinated with respect to one anotherby the server 404. In an embodiment, the functioning of the medicaldevices 402 may be coordinated or controlled with respect to one anotherin a defined sequence. For example, the device D2 may operate afterdevice D1 stops functioning for a defined period of time. The device D3may operate only after D2 stops functioning for a defined period oftime. Even more than one device can operate simultaneously based on thedefined sequence by the server 404. The defined sequence can bedetermined by the server 404 based on for example information pertinentto a subject associated with the plurality of medical devices 402,information about the devices 402, functioning of the devices 402,medical condition of the subject, and level of requirement of thedevices 402 for the subject under the given medical condition of thesubject.

The server 404 may send instruction to the plurality of medical devices402 associated with the subject such as subject 406 for propercoordination and control of the devices 402. The server 404 may includeor be coupled to a processing unit 408. The server 404 may furtherinclude a communication interface 410 to communicate with the medicaldevices 402.

In an embodiment, the EMR system 108 and the server 404 may be deployedin a hospital facility to control and coordinate with medical devicesassociated with subjects in the entire hospital. In such embodiments,the EMR system 108 may be connected to hospital information systems tosocially collect digital data from various information sources withinthe hospital. The EMR system 108 may further receive medical recordsassociated with the subjects from outside the hospital environmentthrough for example various socially aware networks or private networks.The socially aware networks may include various social networkingwebsites that the subjects may be associated or registered with. The EMRsystem 108 may be accessed by authorized users of the hospital facilitythrough a web based platform. In an embodiment, the EMR system 108 andthe server 404 may be deployed to communicate with several hospitalfacilities and organizations such that the EMR system 108 may storeinformation pertinent to subjects and medical devices of the entirehospital facilities and the organizations.

In an exemplary embodiment, the server 404 may connect with a pluralityof medical devices in a hospital facility or any other medicalenvironment even including multiple hospital facilities andorganizations and detect and locate a medical device in the health careenvironment, initialize with the medical device and after initializationmay remotely network with the medical device such that the EMR system108 may be able to transmit and receive information from the medicaldevice. For example, this may be done by connecting the EMR system 108and the server 404 to Internet or other communication network orcommunication system.

In an exemplary embodiment, the server 404 can remotely monitor anddiagnose the plurality of medical devices 402 associated with thesubject 406. The server 404 can allow remote monitoring and diagnosticsof a remotely located device from among the plurality of medical devices406 once the medical device has been located and analyzed by the server404 and relevant details about the device and the subject 406 associatedwith device are obtained and stored in the EMR system 108. In anexample, the server 404 may connect to any of the plurality of medicaldevices 402 located within any health care facility and/or outsidehealth care facility.

In an embodiment, the server 404 may be coupled to a device manager 412.The device manager 412 may be configured to manage device informationcorresponding to each of the plurality of medical devices and associatethe information with respective subjects. For example, the devicemanager 412 may be responsible for managing the information of thedevices D1, D2, and D3 and associate this information with the subject406. In this manner, the processing unit 408 along with the devicemanager 412 can perform tasks such as monitoring and coordinating andcontrolling of the medical devices 402 in a health care facility. Insome embodiments, the device manager 412 may be configured to detectnewly connected medical devices or any updates in the existing medicaldevices associated with an already registered subject with the EMRsystem 408. For example, the device manager 412 can detect and locate amedical device D1 and identify the medical device D1 and authenticate itand provide an administrator or privileged access to the informationrelevant for the device D1 in the EMR system 108. The relevantinformation may for example be information pertinent to other medicaldevices such as D2 and D3 that coordinate with the newly detectedmedical device such as D1.

In accordance with various embodiments, a system is provided that isconfigured to be communicatively coupled with the EMR system 108, server404, and the plurality of medical devices 402. The system may facilitatecommunication between the server 404 and the plurality of medicaldevices 402. The system may be responsible for managing the medicaldevices 402 associated with the subject 406 and facilitate coordinatedfunctioning and integration and control of the plurality of medicaldevices 406 by providing a channel therethrough. The system is describedlater in conjunction with FIG. 5 below. In an embodiment, this systemcan be integrated within the server 404 or with the EMR system 108.

In accordance with some embodiments, the devices 402 can include, forexample, a blood pressure (BP) cuff, X-ray machine, a ventilator,Electrocardiogram (ECG) device, radiotherapy device, dosing controller,medical resonance therapy related device, and the like devices.

FIG. 5, with reference to FIGS. 1 through 4, illustrates a system 500for facilitating coordinated functioning of the plurality of medicaldevices 402 over the network 104. The system 500 may be coupled to theserver 404 and the plurality of medical devices 402. The system 500 mayfacilitate communication between the server 404 and the plurality ofmedical devices 402. The system 500 may manage the medical devices 402associated with the subject 406 and facilitate coordinated functioningand integration and control of the plurality of medical devices 402 byproviding a channel therethrough.

The system 500 may include a communication circuit 502, and a controlcircuit 504. The communication circuit 502 may be configured to receivean input from the server 404 or the processing unit 408 coupled to theserver 404. The input may be indicative of an action or a task to beperformed by a first medical device such as D1 from among the pluralityof networked medical devices 402. In an embodiment, each of theplurality of medical devices 402 may perform a unique task and each ofthe tasks performed by the plurality of medical devices 402 may becoordinated and dependent with respect to one another. Theinterdependence may be known to the server 404 and information about theinterdependence of the tasks may be stored in the EMR system 108 inassociation with subject information corresponding to the medicaldevices 402. For example, a particular task performed by the firstmedical device D1 may not be desired along with the second taskperformed by the second medical device D2. In such cases, the server 404sends the instruction to the system 500 which is received by thecommunication circuit 502 as the input. The received input by thecommunication circuit 502 provides a guidance that allows the medicaldevices 402 to function in a defined and desired manner and inaccordance with the interdependence already known and stored in the EMRsystem 108. The interdependence may be decided by doctors or experts orpersons treating the subject, or based on medical facts. The subject orthe doctors or the persons treating the subject may convey theinterdependence to the EMR system 108 through various channels such asthrough the socially aware networks 106, private networks 102, and thelike. In an embodiment, the information about tasks interdependence maybe automatically updated with the EMR system 108. In an embodiment, theEMR system 108 may automatically determine the information about thetasks interdependence as and when any medical device is registered withthe EMR system 108 in association with a subject. The EMR system 108 mayfor example receive device related information and accordingly map thedevice information with other coordinating medical devices to define theinterdependence. Once, the task interdependence is determined and knownto the server 404, the functioning of the medical devices 402 may becoordinated and controlled accordingly based on the interdependence. Theterms ‘task’ and ‘action’ are used herein throughout the draftinterchangeably without any limitations.

The communication circuit 502 may be configured to send an instructionto the first medical device D1 to initiate the first task by the firstmedical device D1. The instruction may also include information aboutthe details of the first medical device D1. In an embodiment, when thefirst medical device D1 functions for more than one subject, theinstruction may also include information of the subject 406 associatedwith the first medical device D1. The information about the firstmedical device D1 and the subject 406 corresponding to the first medicaldevice D1 may be stored in and retrieved from the EMR system 108.

The control circuit 502 may be configured to monitor the task performedby the first medical device D1 and receive an update periodically. In anevent of a requirement of a second task performed by the second medicaldevice D2, the system 500 may enquire the server 404 aboutinterdependence of the first task and the second task and about theinterdependence of the first medical device D1 and the second medicaldevice D2. In an embodiment, the server 404 may retrieve the informationabout interdependence from a lookup table stored in the EMR system 108.The processing unit 408 may process information about theinterdependence. In case, there is a conflict between the first task bythe first medical device D1 and the second task by the second medicaldevice D2, the server 404 may send the information about conflict to thesystem 500 accordingly. In another embodiment, the system 500 may notenquire about the interdependence rather instructions for performance ornon-performance of the tasks are sent by the server 404 to the system500.

The control circuit 504 may be configured to instruct the first medicaldevice D1 to pause performing the first task for a defined period oftime based on an instruction from the server 404 after determiningtasks' interdependence information. The instruction may also beindicative of the second task to be performed by the second medicaldevice D2. The predefined period of time may depend on various factorssuch as patient information, nature and type of the first and secondmedical devices D1 and D2, functioning and behavior of the first andsecond medical device D1 and D2, medical condition of the subject 406,degree of requirement and necessity of the first and second tasks forthe subject 406 in light of the current medical condition of the subject406. For example, if the second task is extremely necessary and vitalfor the current medical condition of the subject 406, the instructionmay indicate to perform the second task for a time necessary to controlcriticality of the medical condition of the subject 406.

The control circuit 504 may include a time detection circuit 506configured to monitor the defined period of time during which the firstmedical device D1 pauses performing the first task and the secondmedical device D2 performs the second task. The time detection circuit506 may be configured to generate a signal upon completion of thedefined period of time. The signal may be indicative of resuming thefirst task by the first medical device D1 and stopping of the secondtask by the second medical device D2. The time detection circuit 506 maybe configured to initialize at a zero time value and monitor the passageof time until the monitored time equals the defined period of time afterwhich the signal is generated indicative of the resuming of the firsttask by the first device D1 and stopping of the second task by thesecond device D2.

The control circuit 504 may include a device state detection circuit 508coupled to the time detection circuit 506 and configured to identify anoperating state of the plurality of medical devices 402. The operatingstate may be defined by performance or non performance of the medicaldevices 402. For example, the performance of the first medical device D1may define a first operating state and non-performance of the firstmedical device D2 may define a second operating state of the firstmedical device D1. Similarly, the performance of the second medicaldevice D2 may define a first operating state and non-performance of thesecond medical device D2 may define a second operating state of thesecond medical device D2. Based on interdependence between the first andthe second tasks, the operating states of the first medical device D1may depend on the operating states of the second medical device D2. Forexample, if the interdependence suggests a conflicting situation betweenthe first and the second tasks, the first operating state of the firstmedical device D1 may not occur during occurrence of the first operatingstate of the second medical state D2. Therefore, either of the first andsecond medical devices D1 and D2 has to be in a non-performing operatingstate during the defined period of time.

The system 500 may include a switch matrix 510 that is configured tocause a switching action of the operating states. For example, theswitching matrix 510 may be configured to cause switching of the firstand the second medical devices D1, D2 from a performing operating stateto a non-performing and from a non-performing state to a performingstate based on an instruction from the control circuit 504. In anembodiment, the switch matrix 510 may cause switching of the operatingstates of one or more of the first medical device D1 and the secondmedical device D2 upon receipt of the instruction from the controlcircuit 504. In an embodiment, the switch matrix 510 may cause switchingof the operating states of one or more of the first medical device D1and the second medical device D2 upon receipt of the signal generated bythe time detection circuit 506 that is indicative of completion of thedefined time and of resuming the first task and stopping the secondtask. The resuming of the first task requires a switching of thenon-performing state of the first medical device D1 to a performingstate of the first medical device D1. The stopping of the second task bythe second medical device D2 requires switching of the performing stateto the non-performing state of the second medical device D2 by theswitch matrix 510.

The control circuit 504 may include or be coupled to a frequency counter512 configured to determine frequency of switching of operating statesof the medical devices 402. For example, the frequency counter 512 maybe configured to determine frequency of switching of the first medicaldevice D1 from a performance state to a non-performance state of thefirst action and vice versa. Similarly, the frequency counter 512 can beconfigured to determine frequency of switching of operating states ofother medical devices such as D2. In an embodiment, the frequencycounter 512 may generate an output indicative of a current frequency ofswitching of an operating state of a medical device such as D1 and D2.The frequency counter 512 may further be configured to map the currentfrequency of switching with a threshold frequency established by the EMRsystem 108 based on a set of physiological parameters in associationwith the information associated with the subject 406. In an embodiment,the physiological parameters may include vital signs of the patient 406and continuously detected by physiological sensors as discussedhereafter. The relevant information of the subject 406 may include forexample without limitations degree of necessity of switching of theoperating states of one device with respect to other device for thesubject 406, age, gender, medical condition and other suchsubject-specific information. For example, an aged person in a criticalcondition may not tolerate frequent putting off of a ventilator machineand therefore a person responsible for patient care may not allowswitching of the ventilator to an off state very frequently beyond athreshold limit. In an embodiment, the threshold limit may be definedfor a unit period of time. For example, switching of a subject'sventilator from an on to off state may in certain conditions be notallowed beyond three times a day with each not more than 15 minutes. Thefrequency counter 512 may further be configured to reject the switchingof the operating state of the first medical device D1 or the secondmedical device D2 if the current frequency of switching equals thethreshold frequency for the respective medical devices D1, D2. Forexample, upon receipt of the instruction by the communication circuit502 to switch the first medical device D1 from the performing state tothe non-performing state for the defined period of time, the request forswitching may be rejected by the frequency counter 512 if the currentfrequency already reached the threshold frequency.

In accordance with various embodiments, there should be a consistency inoutput generated by the time detection circuit 506 and the device statedetection circuit 508. For example, upon completion of the defined timeand its detection by the time detection circuit 506, there should be achange in an operating state of the first medical device D1 from anon-performance to a performance state. Therefore, both the timedetection circuit 506 and the device state detection circuit 508 shouldlead to a state of shift which should be consistent. In an event of aninconsistency, a fault may occur. The system 500 further includes afault detection circuit 514 configured to generate a signal indicativeof a fault if the device state detection circuit 508 does not detect achange in the operating states of either of the first and second medicaldevices D1, D2 upon receipt of the instruction from the control circuit504 to initiate or pause the first action and upon generation of thesignal by the time detection circuit 506 to stop the second action andresume the first action on completion of the defined time. The signalgenerated by the fault detection circuit 514 may be transmitted to theEMR system 108 through the communication circuit 502 to determineoptimal states of the first medical device D1 and the second medicaldevice D2 upon detection of the failure. The optimal states can be otherthan what is initially instructed by the server 404 to the system 500for example to switch the first medical device D1 to non-performingstate and to switch the second device D2 to performing state for thedefined time. The server 404 may be configured to determine the optimalstates of the first and second medical devices D1, D2 based on theinformation of the subject 406 associated with the first medical deviceD1 and the second medical device D2. For example, the server 404 maydetermine an alternative treatment technique to fulfill the requirementthat is not achieved because of the detection of the fault. In anembodiment, the server 404 can send an instruction to the system 500 toguide a subject caretaker to manually attend the subject 406. There canbe several reasons for the fault. One reason may be malfunctioning ofthe first and/or the second medical device D1, D2. In such cases, thedefaulted medical device may be replaced. Another reason may be arejection by a medical device to follow the instruction sent by thecontrol circuit 504 or the switch matrix 510 to switch the operatingstates. The rejection may occur because at least one medical device maybe authorized to reject the instruction in some embodiments. Forexample, the first medical device D1 may be authorized to reject topause performing the first task based on the instruction received fromthe control circuit 504. The rejection by the first medical device D1influences the second task to be performed by the second medical deviceD2. In such cases, the first medical device D1 may coordinate with othermedical devices but may not be completely controlled by the system 500to function in a defined manner. This is because the first medicaldevice D1 is provided a privilege to reject the request for switchingthe state. In other embodiment, however, the first medical device D1 maynot be authorized to reject the request for switching and may becompletely controlled by the system 500. In an event of rejection, theserver 404 may be informed about the rejection to determine analternative action for the second medical device D2 or an alternativemedical device to replace the need of the second medical device D2 by athird device to perform a third task (that may be similar or alternativeto the second task) in a manner that the first medical device D1 has noobjection with the third task. For example, the first medical device D1may not reject because the third action may be defined in a manner thatit may not need pausing of the first task, and the first and the thirdtasks may be performed simultaneously because of a specificinterdependence between them. The server 404 may in some embodimentsdetermine the alternative tasks or medical devices with the use of theinterdependence information saved in the EMR system 108 or in a memoryof the system 500.

In some embodiments, the system 500 may include a physiological sensor515 configured to be coupled to the subject 406 to identify a set ofphysiological characteristics of the patient 406 during performance andnon-performance and/or before/after switching operations of the firstand the second medical devices D1, D2. The physiological characteristicsmay be one or more of blood pressure, heart beat, respiratory rate, bodytemperature, and glucose level, and other such characteristics withoutlimitations. In an example, the switching of the operating state forexample from performance to non performance or vice versa of the firstand second medical devices D1, D2 based on the instruction received fromthe server 404 may be rejected upon indication of a change in thephysiological characteristics beyond respective threshold valuescorresponding to each of the physiological characteristics. Thephysiological sensor 515 may determine indicative values of the one ormore physiological characteristics of the subject 406 before switchingand after switching, and upon a change in the characteristics beyond thethreshold limit, the request for switching from the server 404 may berejected. In an embodiment, the physiological sensor 515 may forecastpossible changes that may occur in the physiological characteristicsafter switching based on the subject-specific information, informationabout the characteristics and other medical information stored in thesystem 500. Based on the determined values of the physiologicalcharacteristics before switching and possible forecast values afterswitching, the request for switching may be rejected if the change inthe values of the physiological characteristics is beyond the thresholdlimit. In an embodiment, the physiological characteristics may includewithout limitations blood pressure, heart beat, respiratory rate, bodytemperature, and glucose level. The physiological sensor 515 may becoupled to the subject 406 for monitoring the various physiologicalcharacteristics. In an embodiment, the physiological sensor 515 may beimplanted within a patient body. In an embodiment, the physiologicalsensor 515 may be implanted as a standalone component. In anotherembodiment, the physiological sensor 515 may be implanted as a componentof another implantable device already implanted in the body such as apacemaker or a defibrillator, or any other implantable device.

In an embodiment, the threshold values of the physiologicalcharacteristics may be determined and updated regularly by theprocessing unit 408 of the server 404 and stored in the EMR system 108in real time. The updating of the threshold values can depend on anupdate in subject-specific information such as age, disease, gender, andheight-weight index of the subject 406 and the like information and arecommunicated to the system 500 for storage locally within the system 500in real time. The system 500 may store information about the thresholdvalues of the physiological characteristics in a memory circuit 516. Thememory circuit 516 may further store the information received from theprocessing unit 408 coupled to the server 404 and subject-specificinformation obtained from the EMR system 108.

In an embodiment, the EMR system 108 may be configured to store medicalrecords of a plurality of subjects including the subject 406. Themedical records may be associated with the plurality of subject and maybe obtained socially through the social aware networks 106 or otherprivate networks 102 linked to the respective plurality of subjects. Forexample, the subject 406 may register him with a social networkingwebsite and upload his medical information and the server 404 mayretrieve information from the website and store in the EMR system 108.The EMR system 108 may function as a two way communication databasewhich can access digital federated records from the socially awarenetworks 106 or private networks 102 of the subjects for collecting andcollating the digital medical records and also serve as a repository tobe accessed by the subjects from anywhere to view and access theirdigital records at a single location. In various embodiments, thedigital medical records may include one or more of demographicinformation, medical history, treatment plans, ongoing treatments,information related to allergies, and lab reports of the plurality ofsubjects.

FIG. 6, with reference to FIGS. 1 through 5, illustrates an exemplaryembodiment of the medical devices D1 and D2 coordinating through andcontrolled by the system 500. As shown, the first medical device D1 is aventilator and the second medical device D2 is an X-ray machine. Theventilator D1 is shown in the first operating state which is defined byperforming the first task that is providing artificial life support tothe patient 406. The second medical device D2 is shown in the secondoperating state which is defined by non-performing the second task bythe second medical device D2. The first task may be dependent on thesecond task. As shown, the interdependence between the first task andthe second task is such that when the first medical device D1 operatesto provide artificial ventilation, the second medical device D2 staysoff. Therefore, the X-ray D2 machine is shown as in an off state or inthe second state of non-performing of the task of radiating to capturean X-ray. This interdependence may be established based on well knownmedical reasons that an X-ray should not be taken while a patient is ona ventilator machine. Similarly, in some other examples, theinterdependence can be established based on various other factors alsosuch as discussed above.

FIG. 7, with reference to FIGS. 1 through 6, shows the exemplaryembodiment of FIG. 6 after switching of the operating state of the firstmedical device D1 based on the instruction received from the switchmatrix 510 or the control circuit 504. The interdependence between theventilator D1 and the X-ray machine D2 is of the type that the X-raymachine D2 will operate only when the ventilator D1 is off. Therefore,the instruction of switching includes sending a request to theventilator D1 (first medical device) to pause delivering the artificialventilation and sending a request to the X-ray machine D2 (secondventilator) to activate its task that is delivering radiation forcapturing the X-ray. The FIG. 7 therefore shows the ventilator D1 in anoff state for the defined time and the X-ray machine D2 in an on statefor the defined time. The defined time may be based on various factorsas discussed above. One of them may be the level of necessity of theventilation by the patient 406. For example, if the subject 406 is undercritical condition, ventilation may be paused for a very short period oftime only. If the subject 406 is in an extremely critical condition,then the task of taking the X-ray may altogether be postponed orrejected. The server 404 may be updated accordingly in case of thepostponement or rejection. The EMR system 108 may maintain a log of suchrejections or postponements for the patient 406 so as to accordinglyrefine the interdependence of the various tasks performed by variousmedical devices associated with the subject 406 for future use. Forexample, in the future for a defined time such as three days, the system500 may not instruct the X-ray machine D2 to operate in view of therefined interdependence established and stored in the EMR system 108when the ventilator D1 is on.

FIG. 8, with reference to FIGS. 1 through 7, illustrates exemplarylisting of interdependence in the look up sheet maintained by the EMRsystem 108. It must be noted that the interdependences are dynamic innature and are updated after periodic intervals or in real-time. Thereal time updating can be done with the use of the ER client 122discussed in FIG. 2. As shown, in examples, when D1 performs its task,D2, D3, and D6 cannot perform or operate in their performing state. WhenD2 operates in the performing state, D1, D3, and D8 cannot perform. WhenD3 performs D1, D2, and D9 cannot operate to perform. When D4 performs,D10, and D12 cannot perform. When D4 performs, D13, and D16 remainuninfluenced that is whether D13 or D16 or both perform or not, they donot affect operating state of the D4. When D2 performs, D4 has toperform.

In some embodiments, priority of performance by different medicaldevices may be established. For example, if the device D1 cannot performwith the devices D2, D3, and D6, then which devices(s) should performwith a higher priority. This may be determined dynamically based onseveral factors for example as discussed above including withoutlimitation subject current medical condition, affect of performance ornon-performance of a device on the subject medical condition, nature andfunctioning of the devices and their relationship with the medicalcondition of the subject, and the like. For example, if it is determinedthat D2 is more needed by the subject and gets a higher priority overD1, then D1 will be put in an off state that is non-performing state andD2 starts performing. A device that may possess a higher priority withrespect to a particular device may possess a lower priority with respectto another device.

It must be appreciated that though the above discussion includes variousembodiments that involve the use of two medical devices D1 and D2, itmust be appreciated that more than two medical devices may also beemployed equally without limiting the embodiments herein. For example,the system 500 may facilitate coordinated functioning of the pluralityof devices (two or more than two) coupled to the system 500. The EMRsystem 108 may store the digital medical records (interchangeablyreferred to as or digital data without limitations) of the subject 406and information related to a sequence of operations to be performed bythe plurality of the medical devices based on interdependence among theplurality of the medical devices, identification information of thedevices, and subject-specific information. The server 404 may use thestored information to guide the system 500 to instruct the plurality ofdevices accordingly in the defined sequence. It must be appreciated thatthe though the above discussion and the figures include one subjectassociated with medical devices, several subjects each associated withone or more devices may also be coordinated and controlled accordinglywithout any limitation.

FIG. 9, with reference to FIGS. 1 through 8, illustrates a method 900for facilitating coordinated functioning of the plurality of medicaldevices over the network 104. At step 902, the method 900 includesreceiving the input indicative of the first action to be performed bythe first medical device D1 from among the plurality of networkedmedical devices 402. The input is received from the server 404 coupledto the EMR system 108. At step 904, the method 900 includes sending theinstruction to the first medical device D1 to initiate the first actionby the first medical device D1 in association with the information ofthe subject 406 associated with the first medical device D1 stored inand retrieved from the EMR system 108. At step 906, the method 900includes monitoring the first task performed by the first medical deviceD1 in accordance with the instruction. At step 908, the method 900includes instructing the first medical device D1 to pause performing thefirst task for the defined period of time based on the instruction fromthe server 404 indicative of the second action to be performed by asecond medical device D2.

In an embodiment, the method 900 may further include monitoring thedefined period of time during which the first medical device D1 pausesperforming the action, and the second medical device D2 performs thesecond action. The method 900 may include generating a signal uponcompletion of the defined period of time by the time detection circuit506. The signal may be indicative of resuming the first action performedby the first medical device D1 and stopping of the second actionperformed by the second medical device D2. The method 900 may furtherinclude detecting an operating state of the second medical device D2, bythe device state detection circuit 508, which defines performance or nonperformance of the second action by the second medical device D2 duringthe defined time period. The operating state of the first medical deviceD1 that defines performance or non performance of the first medicaldevice D1 may be based on the operating state of the second medicaldevice D2. The method 900 may also include determining theinterdependence between the operating states or the tasks performed bythe first medical device D1 and the second medical device D2. The method900 may also include switching the operating states of the one or moreof the first medical device D1 and the second medical device D2 uponreceipt of the instruction from the controller circuit 504 and upongeneration of the signal by the time detection circuit 506. The method900 may also include generating a signal indicative of a fault by thefault detection circuit 514 if the device state detection circuit 508does not detect a change in the operating states of either of the firstand second medical devices D1, D2 upon receipt of the instruction fromthe controller circuit 504 to initiate or pause the first action andupon generation of the signal by the time detection circuit 506 to stopthe second action and resume the first action on completion of thedefined time.

In an embodiment, the method 900 may employ the plurality of medicaldevices 402 including even more than two medical devices. The method 900may include in such cases determining a sequence of operations performedby the plurality of medical devices 402. The sequence of operations maydepend on the interdependence of the tasks performed by the plurality ofthe medical devices 402. In cases of conflict between at least any twotasks, the method 900 may also include determining a priority task to beperformed over other interdependent tasks. The priority may bedetermined based on various parameters as discussed above.

In an embodiment, the method 900 may include identifying measures orvalues of physiological characteristics of the subject 406 beforeswitching an operating state of a medical device D1, D2. The method 900may further include identifying measures or values of physiologicalcharacteristics of the subject 406 after switching the operating stateof the medical device D1, D2. The method 900 may further includedetermining a change in the measures of the physiologicalcharacteristics and mapping the measures with the threshold values ofthe physiological characteristics under defined conditions. The method900 may include rejection switching of the operating state upondetermining the change as exceeding the threshold level of thephysiological characteristics. For example, if the switching involvesputting a ventilator in an off state for thirty minutes, the method 900may determine the change either after switching for a short time orforecasting an affect of putting the ventilator in the off state withoutactually putting it off. If the change is unacceptable for example ofthe heart beat goes extremely down below the threshold level, therequest for switching the ventilator in the off state may be rejected.

It must be appreciated that various embodiments discussed in conjunctionwith FIGS. 1-3 may be combined with various embodiments implementing thedevice integration, device coordination, and device controlfunctionalities as disclosed in conjunction with FIGS. 4-11.

FIG. 10 illustrates a distributed architecture-based system 1000 for amulti-device module 1002 in accordance with an embodiment. In theexample herein, the multi-device module 1002 includes two devices,however, in other embodiments; more than two devices may be employedwithout limitations.

The distributed architecture-based system 1000 (hereafter referred to assystem 1000) includes the physiological sensor 515 (also referred to asphysiological sensor 515 elsewhere interchangeably without limitations)associated with a body of a subject. The physiological sensor 515 isconfigured to sense one or more physiological characteristics of thesubject 406 and generate a digital physiological signal. The digitalphysiological signal is indicative of an instantaneous physiologicalstate of the subject 406. The instantaneous physical state may representmomentary physical state of the subject 406 at a particular moment oftime. The physical state may include such as heart rate, blood pressure,blood sugar level, pulse rate, cardiac rhythm, and the like that may becaptured using a specific component of the physiological sensor 515 orusing multiple physiological sensors for detecting each type ofphysiological signal. The instantaneous physical state may change atevery moment and accordingly the physiological sensor 515 mayintermittently or regularly sense the physiological characteristics ofthe subject 406 and generate the corresponding digital physiologicalsignal(s). In an example, the physiological sensor 515 may be implantedwithin a patient's body subcutaneously to sense intrinsic physiologicalcharacteristics. In an example, the physiological sensor 515 isassociated with the subject 406 as an external device.

The system 1000 includes a first device 1004 of the multi-device module1002 configured for bi-directional wireless communication and positionedproximate to the subject 406. The first device 1004 may be a medicaldevice and may include a memory circuit and a processor. The firstdevice 1004 may be configured to generate a signal indicative of anoperating state of the first device 1004. The operating state may be aperforming state or a non-performing state of the first device 1004. Thesystem 1000 may include a second device 1006 of the multi-device module1002 which may also be configured for bi-directional wirelesscommunication and may be positioned proximate to the subject 406. Thesecond device 1006 may also include a memory circuit and a processorsimilar to that of the first device 1004. The second device 1006 isconfigured to generate a signal indicative of an operating state of thesecond device 1006. The operating state can be one of a performing stateand a non-performing state of the second device 1006. In some examples,the first device 1004 and the second device 1006 are configured toperform one of a therapeutic, diagnostic, and a medication delivery taskon the subject in accordance with instructions obtained from an externalcomputing device 1008 or from the EMR system 108 or manually by anoperator.

The system 1000 may include a remote-control device 1010 positionedapart from the physiological sensor 515, the first device 1004, and thesecond device 1006. In an example, the first device 1004, second device1006, and the physiological sensor 515 may be connected with thecomputer 1008 such that the remote-control device 1010 iscommunicatively connected with the first device 1004, second device1006, and the physiological sensor 515 through the computer 1008. Thecomputer 1008 may be located at a remote location from theremote-control device 1010. The computer 1008 may include telemetrycircuitry 1012 for communicating with the physiological sensor 515, thefirst device 1004, and the second device 1006.

The remote-control device 1010 may include the EMR system 108 asdiscussed above. The EMR system 108 may include the digital recordsrepository 114 which may include a memory circuit and a processing unitfor storing dynamically updating computer executable files aggregatedfrom the plurality of changing private networks and social networks orany other digital data sources 124. The computer executable files maycontain dynamically updating digitally recorded information (the digitaldata as discussed earlier). The dynamically updating digitally recordedinformation or simply digital data may store information about a set ofattributes associated with the subject that may reflect subject's vitaland/or health parameters among other things. These medical parametersmay be associated with changing reference values associated with thesubject 406. For example, one of the attributes may be subject's cardiacrhythm recorded by an ECG machine such that reference values assidentified in an ECG report may be defined along with the attribute. Ifthe subject 406 or any associated entity repeats the ECG, new values maybe associated with the attribute of the subject 406. These attributesand the associated reference values may change as new medical records ofthe subject 406 get added in the EMR system 108. The varying referencevalues of the subject 406 for the set of parameters are indicative ofmedical status of the subject 406 at a particular time. However, thesereference values are subject to updating of the medical records from thedigital data sources 124 or by the subject 406. The reference valuesassociated with the attributes may in certain cases be different thanthe information aggregated in real-time from the physiological sensor515 which may demand an immediate intervention as discussed hereafter.

The EMR system 108 may include the ER client 122. The EMR system 108 mayinclude or be communicatively connected with the server machine 404(also referred to as server simply) as discussed earlier. Among thevarious tasks the server machine 404 may perform, the server machine 404may also be configured for communicating with the physiological sensor515, the first device 1004, and the second device 1006 either directlyor through the computer 1008 associated with the first device 1004,second device 1006, and the physiological sensor 515. In an example, thecomputer 1008 may send a request for service to the server machine 404which may indicate a request for operation of any of the devices inassociation with the subject 406 for delivering a particular medicalprocedure, therapy, performing diagnosis, delivering medication, etc.The server machine 404 may be configured to receive the service requestand also receive the physiological signal from the physiological sensor515 either directly or through the computer 1008. The server machine 404is configured for receiving the digital physiological signal indicativeof the instantaneous physiological state of the subject 406 and sendingprogrammable operational parameters to the first device 1004 and thesecond device 1006 in response to the request for service from thecomputer 1008 and based on the instantaneous physiological state. Theoperating parameters decide operating characteristics of the firstdevice 1004 and operating characteristics of the second device 1006 suchas whether the first device 1004 and/or the second device 1006 shouldexecute certain tasks and for what duration and in which precedence andpriority. The operating characteristics of the first device 1004 and theoperating characteristics of the second device 1006 are interdependentthrough priority and interdependence relationships as discussed earlier.

The server machine 404 may also receive a signal from the computer 1008or along with the physiological signal indicative of an identity of thesubject 406, the first device 1004, and the second device 1006, in anembodiment. In an embodiment, the identity of the subject 406 can bedefined from the service request and the identity of the associatedmedical devices can be determined from the EMR system 108 for thesubject 406.

The system 1000 may include an identity validation device 1014 coupledto the server machine 404 to verify identity of the first device 1004and the second device 1006 and associate a subject identifier uniquelyrepresenting the subject 406 with the first device 1004 and the seconddevice 1006 based on information contained within the physiologicalsignal or the service request such that the operating parameters arecalculated based on one or more of the reference values associated withthe subject 406 having the unique subject identifier as identified basedon the physiological signal. In an example, the physiological sensor 515is configured for the subject 406 such that the digital physiologicalsignal contains the subject identifier along with an informationindicative of the instantaneous physiological state of the subject 406.In an embodiment, the identity is known from the service request. In anembodiment, the computer 1008 may send the service request along withdetails of the sensed physiological signal and the associated medicaldevices and identity of the subject 406 such that the identity may beverified using certain identifiers such as the subject identifierassociated with the request from the computer 1008.

The remote-control device 1010 may be configured to associate thesubject identifier with the computer executable files stored in thedigital records repository 114 to retrieve the reference valuesassociated with the subject 406 and generate an output indicative of theoperational parameters of the first device 1004 and the second device1006 based on the physiological signal and the retrieved referencevalues associated with the subject 406. The reference values mayindicate health state and medical procedures of the subject 406 and themedical devices 1004 and 1006 associated with the subject 406 andoperational guidelines for the medical devices 1004 and 1006 inassociation with the subject 406 such that the remote-control device1010 can accordingly guide the medical devices 1004 and 1006 for theoperations based on the medical records contained in the computerexecutable files for the subject 406.

The operational parameters may include one or more of changing anoperating state of the first device 1004 only for a first period oftime, changing an operating state of the second device 1006 only for asecond period of time, changing an operating state of both the firstdevice 1004 and the second device 1006 for a third period of time, andconnecting a third device different from the first device 1004 and thesecond device 1006 by associating an operating state with the thirddevice in association with the subject 406 for a fourth period of time.Each of the first device 1004, the second device 1006, and the thirddevice are uniquely identified by device identifiers such that thedigital records repository 114 stores the digital identifiers in thedevice manager 412 or a memory in association with the subjectidentifier. The switch matrix 510 may be configured to cause switchingof the operating state of the one or more of the first device 1004,second device 1006, and the third device upon receipt of the operationalparameters from the remote-control device 1010 in accordance with thepriority and interdependence relationships. The remote-control device1010 may include the time detection circuit 506 configured to monitorthe first period of time, second period of time, third period of time,and the fourth period of time. The remote-control device 1010 mayinclude the device state detection circuit 508 coupled to the timedetection circuit 506 and configured to identify an operating state ofthe first device 1004, second device 1006, and the third device aftercompletion of the first period of time, second period of time, thirdperiod of time, and the fourth period of time. The remote-control device1010 may include the fault detection circuit 514 configured to generatea signal indicative of a fault if the device state detection circuit 508does not detect a change in operating states of either of the firstdevice 1004, second device 1006 or the third device in accordance withthe operational parameters transmitted by the remote-control device1010.

The EMR system 108 may also include a mobile point of care system 1016to capture subject-associated digital data at a point of care. The pointof care system 1016 may be defined as a location where the subject 406is located or the subject 406 is cared in a hospital premise such thatthe mobile point of care system 1010 may be transported to variouslocations to capture the digital data associated with the subject 406.The point of care system 1016 is communicatively connected with theelectronic record (ER) client 122 so as to transmit the electronicrecords or digital data captured by the mobile point of care system 1016from the private networks 102 or from devices associated with thesubject 406 to the server machine 404. The mobile point of care system1016 may provide a data interface 1018 in communication with the mobilepoint of care system 1016 to facilitate transmission of the electronicrecords to the server machine 404. The point of care system 1016 maycapture the digital records using bar codes, QR codes, data sharingtechniques, or manual entries by the subject 406, Near Fieldcommunication techniques, and the like. The point of care system 1016may include a subject data capture facility to enter informationprovided by a subject 406 or associated medical devices, a subject datarepository, in communication with the point of care system 1016 and withexternal systems, to store the subject data for access by the point ofcare system 1016 and then transmit to the server machine 404 or theremote-control device 1010. In this way, the paint of care system 1016may capture each piece of data at its source at the time of entry toprovide a complete audit trail for all subject associated digital data.

The point of care system 1016 captures subject-associated data inreal-time at the point of care, that is, where healthcare providersinteract with their subjects or medical devices interact with theassociated subjects. For example, physicians can use the point of caresystem 1016 to enter, access, process, analyze and annotate data fromsubject records in real-time at the point of care. Thus, using the pointof care system 1016, a physician, who has many subjects in a hospital,can visit each subject in their room, access their electronic recordsthere, enter results of current diagnosis, evaluate their medicalhistory, electronically annotate their x-rays images and prescribemedications and treatments instantaneously as the point of care system1016 captures and organizes subject-associated data into the medicalrecords stored in the subject data repository. The point of care system1016 may likewise communicate with a reference database to assist ahealthcare provider in making diagnoses, prescribing medications andadministering treatments.

The EMR system 108 may also configure a web-based interactive graphicaluser interface 1020 for alternatively allowing the subject 406 to enterthe digital records manually from a distant location.

In an embodiment, one or more of the physiological sensor 515, the firstdevice 1004, the second device 1006, and the computer 1008 areconfigured to transform the operating parameters into a digital datastructure which may be readable by a scanner 1022. The digital datastructure may be a QR (quick response) code.

FIG. 11 illustrates the multi-device module 1002, in accordance with anembodiment herein. The multi-device module 1002 includes the firstdevice 1004, the second device 1006, the computer 1008 configured forestablishing an internet protocol connection with a dynamicallyinterfaced device such as the EMR system 108 or the remote-controldevice 1010 via an internet protocol network interface for communicatingwith the dynamically interfaced device. In an example as shown in FIG.11, the first device 1004 is a medical imaging device such as an X Raymachine and the second device 1006 is a life support system such as aventilator such that the functioning of the medical imaging device 1004is dependent on the functioning of the life support system 1006 suchthat the EMR system 108 controls the interdependence of the functioningof the medical imaging device 1004 and the life support system 1006 froma remote location through the computer 1008.

The first device 1004 includes an integrated device gateway 1102configured to have a multiple interface unit comprising data interfaceunits. The integrated device gateway 1102 is configured to send medicaloperation measurements which may represent operational details inconformity with the operational parameters received via a wired/wirelesscommunication network from the remote-control device 1010 directly orthrough the computer 1008. The integrated device gateway 1102 canensure, through recording of information and measurements andtransmission to the computer 1008 and/or the remote-control device 1010,the operation of the first device 1004 is in accordance with theoperational parameters received from the remote-control device 1010.Similarly, the second device 1006 can also include a similar integratedevice gateway 1104 which measures performance of the second device1006. Various accessories and circuitries of the first device 1004 andthe second device 1006 are contained within respective housings 1106 and1108 of the first device 1004 and the second device 1006.

Each of the first device 1004 and the second device 1006 may contain oneor more of a therapeutic device, a medication delivery device, and adiagnosis device physically contained within the respective devicehousing 1106 and 1108 and configured to perform one of a therapeutic,diagnostic, and a medication delivery task depending on the nature ofthe first device 1004 and the second device 1006.

In an embodiment, the first device 1004 and the second device 1006 canrespectively contain a first identification module 1110 and a secondidentification module 1112 to respectively contain digitally storedinformation indicative of device identifier and configured to betransmitted to other devices such as the remote-control device 1010 andthe computer 1008 upon request for device identification. The computer1008 may include the telemetry circuitry 1012 which allows communicationwith the physiological sensor 515 and the first device 1004, and thesecond device 1006. The computer 1008 may be configured to receive thephysiological signal from the associated physiological sensor 515configured for the subject 406. The computer 1008 may be configured totransmit a subject identifier, a first medical device identifierassociated with the first medical device 1004, and a second medicaldevice identifier associated with the second medical device 1006 alongwith the service request to the remote-control device 1010 locatedapart. The remote-control device 1010 is configured to fulfill theservice request based on information contained in the plurality ofdynamically updating computer executable files obtained from theplurality of digital data sources 124 and stored in the EMR system 108.The computer 1008 is further configured to receive the operationalparameters from the remote-control device 1010 in response to theservice request from the computer 1008 and based on the instantaneousphysiological state as identified from the physiological signal suchthat the one or more operating parameters decides operatingcharacteristics of the first medical device 1004 and operatingcharacteristics of the second medical device 1006 as discussed earlierin the document.

As shown in the exemplary illustration, the first device 1004 is themedical imaging machine for imaging of a target such as a tissue or abone structure within a body of the subject 406. The imaging machineincludes a rotatable drive shaft 1114 made of a rigid material andconfigured to rotate along multiple axes. The medical imaging machineincludes an imaging device 1116 supported on the rotatable drive shaft1114. The imaging device 1116 is adapted to transmit energy toward thetarget such as in the form of X rays or magnetic energy. The medicalimaging device includes a position adjustment mechanism 1118 couplingwith the rotatable shaft 1114 to allow adjustment of the rotatable driveshaft 1114 in order to focus transmission of the energy at the target byaligning along the multiple axes.

The second device 1006 is the life support system. The life supportsystem includes an oxygen source 1120 that includes a tank ofpressurized gas. The life support system further includes one or morecontrol valve 1122 disposed over a channel connecting the oxygen source1120 and the subject 406 to allow the oxygen to flow from thetank/source 1120 to a laryngeal mask 1124 in a first state and to allowgas expelled from the subject 406 to flow from the laryngeal mask 1124to the atmosphere in a second state while preventing the oxygen fromflowing from the oxygen source 1120 in a second state. The life supportsystem includes the laryngeal mask 1124 disposed downstream from the oneor more control valve 1122. The laryngeal mask 1124 may be configured toform an air seal with the subject's respiratory tract such that theoxygen flows from the oxygen source 1120 to the lungs of the subject406. The life support system may include a timer (not shown) forsynchronizing actuation of the one or more control valve 1122 based onthe operational parameters received from the remote-control device 1010.

The oxygen source 1120 may contain pressurized oxygen which may besupplied as per requirements by controlling supply from such as a supplyregulator and a pressure gauge (not shown). The oxygen source 1120stores substantially pure oxygen under pressure. The pressure of oxygenwithin the oxygen source drops during use because gas is supplied to thesubject but not returned to the oxygen source. In one aspect, amedical-grade compressed-oxygen cylinder is used. In an example, thelife support system is a ventilator.

In accordance with embodiments, a device such as the first device 1004and second device 1006 may be provided or used for a particular subjectsuch as 406. In an example, if the subject 406 is associated with theparticular device, and when the EMR system 108 or the computer 1008 isused proximate to the device, the remote-control device 1010automatically begins functioning in the context of the particularsubject 406. In an embodiment, software can also be used toautomatically connect to the subject 406 simply based on the device thatthe subject 406 is connected or associated with. In an embodiment, eachof the first medical device 1004 and the second medical device 1006 mayinclude respective (Global Positioning System) GPS-based devices 1126and 1128 such that the GPS-based devices 1126 and 1128 are configured todetect geo-locations of the respective first medical device 1004 and thesecond medical device 1006. The remote-control device 1010 receives thedetected geo-locations of the first medical device 1004 and the secondmedical device 1006, and the remote-control device 1010 automaticallycorrelates the subject identifier for the subject 406 associated withthe first medical device 1004 and the second medical device 1006 andinitiates functioning in context of the subject 406 as and when the

EMR system 108 or the computer 1008 is proximate to the subject 406associated with the first medical device 1004 and the second medicaldevice 1006.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example wherein a centralized management systemis coupled operatively and/or communicatively with the medical devices1004 and 1006. The medical devices 1004 and 1006 may be assessed by thecentralized management system for any vulnerability, safety or securityrelated aspect before the medical devices 1004 and 1006 are connectedwith the system 500 and the EMR 108 or server 404 so as to ensure thatonly reliable medical devices communicate with the system 500 or server404. In an embodiment, the computer 1008 may include the centralizedmanagement system 1202. In an embodiment, the centralized managementsystem 1202 may not be integrated within the computer 1008, instead, itmay be enabled by an external third party system communicativelyconnected with the computer 1008 and/or the medical devices 1004 and1006.

The centralized management system 1202 may be configured to protect thenetwork 104 from any potential threat or vulnerability. In anembodiment, the centralized management system 1202 may store a list ofsoftware and/or hardware assets that may be integrated within themedical devices 1004 and 1006 in a repository. Each of these assets maybe vulnerable to particular threats. The centralized management system1202 may also store associated potential vulnerabilities for each of theassets and also create a mapping between the assets and respectivepotential vulnerabilities. The centralized management system 1202 mayalso associate a rank to each vulnerability and asset combination whichmay be indicative of overall effect on the network 104 and ultimatelyallowing the centralized management system 1202 to make a decisionwhether the medical devices 1004 and 1006 are trustworthy enough to beintegrated within the network 106 or not. The centralized managementsystem 1202 may continuously monitor the vulnerabilities and the assetsfrom a plurality of information sources and keep updating nature ofassociation between the assets and the vulnerability now and then. Thecentralized management system 1202 may inform the system 500 and/orserver 404 in case of any anomaly detection. The centralized managementsystem 1202 may also reject a medical device from the network 106 incase of any anomaly detection. The centralized management system 1202 isconfigured to build security and compliance monitoring strategies thatadapt to changing threats and regulatory requirements for the medicaldevices 1004 and 1006. The centralized management system 1202 maycomprise a plurality of security systems and safety systems to monitorfor the vulnerabilities and risks associated with the assets integratedwithin the medical devices 1004 and 1006. In an embodiment, thecentralized management system 1202 may not be tied to the EMR 108 andmay be deployed separately and may be configured to influence themedical devices 1004 and 1006 independently.

In embodiments, the centralized management system 1202 may include orconnected to a risk information source receiving risk information, andgenerating a risk assessment report based on the risk information. Thecentralized management system 1202 may include or connected to an assetinformation source, and an analysis system that correlates one or morerisks with one or more assets. In various embodiments, the centralizedmanagement system 1202 may generate a risk assessment report from thecorrelated risk information and asset information. The centralizedmanagement system 1202 may assess for risks globally that occur in anyregion or country throughout the world, for any type of risk or any typeof asset.

The embodiments herein are discussed above with respect to the medicaldevices 1004 and 1006 located along with the subject in a hospital orany other medical premise which is connected communicatively with theEMR 108 and the server 108. In some embodiments, however the medicaldevices 1004 and 1006 may be located at certain other premises such asat home of a subject wherein the medical devices 1004 and 1006 may beused to monitor certain parameters of the patient and/or perform certaintasks based on monitored parameters by sensing devices around thesubject such as the physiological sensor 515 as discussed earlier.

In accordance with certain embodiments, the devices may or may not bemedical devices, and may include sensors or wearables or any otherintelligent devices that may be located around an entity such as thesubject or anyone else to sense the contextual parameters. These devicesmay be controlled by the EMR to perform certain tasks based on themonitored contextual parameters around the subject. For example, asensor may be deployed to monitor humidity levels around the subject andas soon as the humidity levels reach a particular level, the device (ahumidifier) may be informed to operate in accordance with custom rulescoming from EMR in association with subject-specific information so asthe humidity to be managed at the desired level for a particular subjectin accordance with medical or comfort needs.

In an example, the embodiments herein can provide a computer programproduct configured to include a pre-configured set of instructions,which when performed, can result in actions as stated in conjunctionwith the method(s) described above. In an example, the pre-configuredset of instructions can be stored on a tangible non-transitory computerreadable medium. In an example, the tangible non-transitory computerreadable medium can be configured to include the set of instructions,which when performed by a device, can cause the device to perform actssimilar to the ones described here.

The embodiments herein may comprise a computer program productconfigured to include a pre-configured set of instructions, which whenperformed, can result in actions as stated in conjunction with themethods described above. In an example, the pre-configured set ofinstructions can be stored on a tangible non-transitory computerreadable medium or a program storage device. In an example, the tangiblenon-transitory computer readable medium can be configured to include theset of instructions, which when performed by a device, can cause thedevice to perform acts similar to the ones described here. Embodimentsherein may also include tangible and/or non-transitory computer-readablestorage media for carrying or having computer executable instructions ordata structures stored thereon.

Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, datastructures, objects, and the functions inherent in the design ofspecial-purpose processors, etc. that perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types. Computer executableinstructions, associated data structures, and program modules representexamples of the program code means for executing steps of the methodsdisclosed herein. The particular sequence of such executableinstructions or associated data structures represents examples ofcorresponding acts for implementing the functions described in suchsteps.

The techniques provided by the embodiments herein may be implemented onan integrated circuit chip (not shown). The chip design is created in agraphical computer programming language, and stored in a computerstorage medium (such as a disk, tape, physical hard drive, or virtualhard drive such as in a storage access network). If the designer doesnot fabricate chips or the photolithographic masks used to fabricatechips, the designer transmits the resulting design by physical means(e.g., by providing a copy of the storage medium storing the design) orelectronically (e.g., through the Internet) to such entities, directlyor indirectly. The stored design is then converted into the appropriateformat (e.g., GDSII) for the fabrication of photolithographic masks,which typically include multiple copies of the chip design in questionthat are to be formed on a wafer. The photolithographic masks areutilized to define areas of the wafer (and/or the layers thereon) to beetched or otherwise processed.

The resulting integrated circuit chips can be distributed by thefabricator in raw wafer form (that is, as a single wafer that hasmultiple unpackaged chips), as a bare die, or in a packaged form. In thelatter case the chip is mounted in a single chip package (such as aplastic carrier, with leads that are affixed to a motherboard or otherhigher level carrier) or in a multichip package (such as a ceramiccarrier that has either or both surface interconnections or buriedinterconnections). In any case the chip is then integrated with otherchips, discrete circuit elements, and/or other signal processing devicesas part of either (a) an intermediate product, such as a motherboard, or(b) an end product. The end product can be any product that includesintegrated circuit chips, ranging from toys and other low-endapplications to advanced computer products having a display, a keyboardor other input device, and a central processor.

The embodiments herein can include both hardware and software elements.The embodiments that are implemented in software include but are notlimited to, firmware, resident software, microcode, etc.

A data processing system suitable for storing and/or executing programcode will include at least one processor coupled directly or indirectlyto memory elements through a system bus. The memory elements can includelocal memory employed during actual execution of the program code, bulkstorage, and cache memories which provide temporary storage of at leastsome program code in order to reduce the number of times code must beretrieved from bulk storage during execution.

Input/output (I/O) devices (including but not limited to keyboards,displays, pointing devices, etc.) can be coupled to the system eitherdirectly or through intervening I/O controllers. Network adapters mayalso be coupled to the system to enable the data processing system tobecome coupled to other data processing systems or remote printers orstorage devices through intervening private or public networks. Modems,cable modem and Ethernet cards are just a few of the currently availabletypes of network adapters.

A representative hardware environment for practicing the embodimentsherein is depicted in FIG. 13, with reference to FIGS. 1 through 12.This schematic drawing illustrates a hardware configuration of aninformation handling/computer system 1300 in accordance with anexemplary embodiment herein. The system 1300 comprises at least oneprocessor or central controller (CPU) 1310. The CPUs 1310 areinterconnected via system bus 1312 to various devices such as a randomaccess memory (RAM) 1314, read-only memory (ROM) 1316, and aninput/output (I/O) adapter 1318. The I/O adapter 1318 can connect toperipheral devices, such as disk units 1311 and storage drives 1313, orother program storage devices that are readable by the system. Thesystem 1300 can read the inventive instructions on the program storagedevices and follow these instructions to execute the methodology of theembodiments herein. The system 1300 further includes a user interfaceadapter 1319 that connects a keyboard 1315, mouse 1317, speaker 1324,microphone 1322, and/or other user interface devices such as a touchscreen device (not shown) to the bus 1312 to gather user input.Additionally, a communication adapter 1320 connects the bus 1312 to adata processing network 1325, and a display adapter 1321 connects thebus 1312 to a display device 1323, which provides a GUI (e.g., a gadget)in accordance with the embodiments herein, or which may be embodied asan output device such as a monitor, printer, or transmitter, forexample. Further, a transceiver 1326, a signal comparator 1327, and asignal converter 1328 may be connected with the bus 1312 for processing,transmission, receipt, comparison, and conversion of electric orelectronic signals.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fullyreveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, byapplying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for variousapplications such specific embodiments without departing from thegeneric concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modificationsshould and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and rangeof equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood thatthe phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose ofdescription and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodimentsherein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, thoseskilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can bepracticed with modification within the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for controlling multiple devices, saidsystem comprising: a physiological sensor associated with a body of asubject and configured to sense one or more physiologicalcharacteristics of said subject and generate a digital physiologicalsignal indicative of an instantaneous physiological state of saidsubject; a first device configured for bi-directional wirelesscommunication positioned proximate to said subject and comprising afirst memory circuit and a first processor, wherein said first device isconfigured to generate a first signal indicative of an operating stateof said first device, and wherein said operating state comprising one ofa performing state and a non-performing state of said first device; asecond device configured for bi-directional wireless communicationpositioned proximate to said subject and comprising a second memorycircuit and a second processor, wherein said second device is configuredto generate a second signal indicative of an operating state of saidsecond device, wherein said operating state comprising one of aperforming state and a non-performing state of said second device, andwherein said first device and said second device are configured toperform one of a therapeutic, diagnostic, and a medication delivery taskon said subject in accordance with computer-enabled instructions; acomputer with telemetry circuitry for communicating with saidphysiological sensor, said first device, and said second device; and aremote-control device positioned apart from said physiological sensor,said first device, and said second device, wherein said remote-controldevice comprising: a digital records repository comprising a memorycircuit and a processing unit for storing dynamically updating computerexecutable files aggregated from a plurality of changing privatenetworks wherein said computer executable files contain dynamicallyupdating digitally recorded information indicative of a set of changingsubject attributes and respective changing reference values associatedwith said subject; an electronic record (ER) client configured to make awireless connection with each of said private networks and configured toquery an ER database associated with each of said private networks forelectronic records residing within said private networks; a servermachine configured for communicating with said physiological sensor,said first device, and said second device either directly or throughsaid computer, wherein said server machine is configured for receivingsaid digital physiological signal indicative of said instantaneousphysiological state of said subject and sending programmable operationalparameters to said first device and said second device in response to arequest for service from said computer and based on said instantaneousphysiological state such that said operating parameters decidesoperating characteristics of said first device and operatingcharacteristics of said second device and said operating characteristicsof said first device and said operating characteristics of said seconddevice are interdependent through a priority and interdependencerelationship, wherein at least one of said physiological sensor, saidfirst device, said second device, and said computer transforms saidreceived operating parameters into a digital data structure readable bya scanner; and an identity validation device to verify an identity ofsaid first device and said second device and associate a subjectidentifier uniquely representing said subject with said first device andsaid second device based on information contained within saidphysiological signal such that said operating parameters are calculatedbased on one or more of said reference values associated with saidsubject having said unique subject identifier as identified based onsaid physiological signal.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein saidphysiological sensor is implanted within said body of said subjectsubcutaneously.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein said physiologicalsensor is associated with said subject as an external device.
 4. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein said physiological sensor is configured forsaid subject such that said digital physiological signal contains saidsubject identifier along with an information indicative of saidinstantaneous physiological state of said subject.
 5. The system ofclaim 4, wherein said remote-control device is configured to associatesaid subject identifier with said computer executable files stored insaid digital records repository to retrieve said reference valuesassociated with said subject and generate an output indicative of saidoperational parameters of said first device and said second device basedon said physiological signal and said retrieved reference valuesassociated with said subject.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein saidoperational parameters comprise any of: changing an operating state ofsaid first device only for a first period of time; changing an operatingstate of said second device only for a second period of time; changingan operating state of both said first device and said second device fora third period of time; and connecting a third device different fromsaid first device and said second device by associating an operatingstate with said third device in association with said subject for afourth period of time, wherein each of said first device, said seconddevice, and said third device are uniquely identified by deviceidentifiers such that said digital records repository stores saiddigital identifiers in a device manager in association with said subjectidentifier.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein any of said server machineand said computer further comprise a switch matrix configured to causeswitching of said operating state of said one or more of said firstdevice, second device, and said third device upon receipt of saidoperational parameters from said remote-control device in accordancewith said priority and interdependence relationships.
 8. The system ofclaim 7, wherein said remote-control device further comprises a timedetection circuit configured to monitor said first period of time,second period of time, third period of time, and said fourth period oftime.
 9. The system of claim 8, further comprising a device statedetection circuit coupled to said time detection circuit and configuredto identify an operating state of said first device, second device, andsaid third device after completion of said first period of time, saidsecond period of time, said third period of time, and said fourth periodof time.
 10. The system of claim 9, further comprising a fault detectioncircuit configured to generate a signal indicative of a fault when saiddevice state detection circuit does not detect a change in operatingstates of either of said first device, second device, or said thirddevice in accordance with said operational parameters transmitted bysaid remote-control device.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein saidfirst device comprises a ventilator and said second device comprises anX-ray machine such that said remote-control device causes saidventilator to perform a first action upon receipt and said X-ray machineto perform a second action upon receipt of said operational parameters.12. The system of claim 1, wherein said remote-control device comprisesan electronic medical record (EMR) system configured to house aplurality of digital records associated with a plurality of subjectsincluding said subject in the form of a plurality of digital filesincluding said computer executable files associated with said subject,wherein said EMR system comprising: said digital records repository;said electronic record (ER) client; a mobile point of care system tocapture subject-associated digital data at a point of care wherein saidpoint of care system is communicatively connected with said electronicrecord (ER) client so as to transmit said electronic records captured bysaid mobile point of care system from said private networks to saidserver machine; a data interface, in communication with said mobilepoint of care system, to facilitate transmission of said electronicrecords to said server machine; and a web-based interactive graphicaluser interface for allowing said subject to enter said digital recordsmanually from a distant location.
 13. The system of claim 1, whereinsaid digital data structure comprises a QR (quick response) code.
 14. Amulti-device system comprising: a first medical device configured forbi-directional wireless communication positioned proximate to a subjectand comprising a first memory circuit and a first processor, whereinsaid first medical device is configured to generate a first signalindicative of an operating state of said first medical device, andwherein said operating state comprising one of a performing state and anon-performing state of said first medical device; and a second medicaldevice configured for bi-directional wireless communication positionedproximate to said subject and comprising a second memory circuit and asecond processor, wherein said second medical device is configured togenerate a second signal indicative of an operating state of said secondmedical device, and wherein said operating state comprising one of aperforming state and a non-performing state of said second medicaldevice, wherein each of said first medical device and said secondmedical device comprising: an integrated gateway device configured tohave a multiple interface unit comprising data interface unitsconfigured to send medical operation measurements in conformity with oneor more operational parameters received via any of a wired and wirelesscommunication network; a medical device housing to contain deviceaccessories and circuitry; one or more of a therapeutic delivery device,a medication delivery device, and a diagnosis device physicallycontained within said medical device housing and configured to performone of a therapeutic, diagnostic, and a medication delivery task; anidentification module to contain digitally stored information indicativeof device identifier and configured to be transmitted to other devicesupon request for device identification; and a computer with telemetrycircuitry for communicating with a physiological sensor, said firstdevice, and said second device, wherein said computer configured to:receive a physiological signal from said associated physiological sensorconfigured for a subject; transmit a subject identifier, a first medicaldevice identifier associated with said first medical device, and asecond medical device identifier associated with said second medicaldevice along with a service request to a remote-control devicepositioned apart from said physiological sensor, and wherein saidremote-control device is configured to fulfill said service requestbased on information contained in a plurality of dynamically updatingcomputer executable files from a plurality of digital data sources andstored in an EMR system configured within said remote-control device;and receive said one or more operational parameters from saidremote-control device in response to a service request from saidcomputer and based on an instantaneous physiological state as identifiedfrom said physiological signal such that said one or more operatingparameters decides operating characteristics of said first medicaldevice and operating characteristics of said second medical device,wherein said operating characteristics of said first medical device andsaid operating characteristics of said second medical device areinterdependent through a priority and interdependence relationship. 15.The system of claim 14, wherein said first medical device comprises amedical imaging machine for imaging of a target including a tissue or abone structure within a body of a subject, said medical imaging machinecomprising: a rotatable drive shaft; an imaging device supported on saidrotatable drive shaft, said imaging device adapted to transmit energytoward said target; a position adjustment mechanism coupling with saidrotatable shaft to allow adjustment of said rotatable drive shaft inorder to focus transmission of said energy at said target; saidintegrated gateway device; and said identification module.
 16. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein said energy comprises X-rays and saidimaging machine comprises an X-Ray machine.
 17. The system of claim 14,wherein said second medical device comprises a life support systemcomprising: an oxygen source that includes a tank of pressurized gas;one or more control valves disposed over a channel connecting saidoxygen source and said subject to allow said oxygen to flow from saidtank to a laryngeal mask in a first state and to allow gas expelled fromsaid subject to flow from said laryngeal mask to said atmosphere in asecond state while preventing said oxygen from flowing from said oxygensource in a second state; said laryngeal mask disposed downstream fromsaid inspiration control valve, said laryngeal mask configured to forman air seal with said subject's respiratory tract such that said oxygenflows from said oxygen source to said lungs of said subject; a timer forsynchronizing actuation of said one or more control valves based on saidoperational parameters received from said remote-control devicecontaining said EMR system; said integrated gateway device; and saididentification module.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein said lifesupport system comprises a ventilator.
 19. The system of claim 14,wherein each of said first medical device and said second medical devicecomprising a respective (Global Positioning System) GPS-based devicesuch that said GPS-based device is configured to detect geo-locations ofsaid respective first medical device and said second medical device,wherein said remote-control device receives said detected geo-locationsof said first medical device and said second medical device, and saidremote-control device automatically correlates said subject identifierfor said subject associated with said first medical device and saidsecond medical device and initiates functioning in context of saidsubject as and when said EMR system is proximate to said subjectassociated with said first medical device and said second medicaldevice.
 20. The system of claim 14, wherein said computer is configuredto transform said operating parameters received from said remote-controldevice into a digital data structure, said system further comprising ascanner communicatively coupled to said computer such that said digitaldata structure is readable by said scanner.